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Abstract and Keywords

During the American Revolution, Britain relied primarily on its army to subdue the rebellious colonies. At its peak, the British army in North America had approximately 50,000 officers and men, constituting the largest expeditionary force sent overseas by any British governments. After nearly seven years of fighting, however, the British Parliament realized that military operations in the colonies would not crush the rebellion. The American Revolution has been linked to various myths, three of which relate to the British army and its role in the War of Independence. One myth is that the weaknesses of character and approach of the British army account for its loss in the war that it should have won. This chapter challenges the myths of the War of Independence and offers a different explanation for the failure of the British army to quash the American revolt.

Stephen R. Conway is professor of history at University College London. His publications include The British Isles and the War of American Independence (2000); War, State, and Society in Mid-Eighteenth-Century Britain and Ireland (2006); and Britain, Ireland, and Continental Europe in the Eighteenth Century: Similarities, Connections, Identities (2011). He has also written extensively on the British army at the time of the American Revolution; several of his articles on this subject have appeared in the William and Mary Quarterly.

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